Requiem For A Lover
by RDF-J6
Summary: This is a story in which Lisa Hayes does not survive Khyron's suicidal charge on the SDF1.


DISCLAIMER: ROBOTECH and it's associated characters are registered copyrighted trademarks and are the property of HARMONY GOLD. Copyright infringement is for storytelling purposes only and is not intended. Other characters and situations are of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended. Story can be downloaded and printed for the reader's enjoyment. The cutting, copying, pasting, plagiarizing or changing of this story is prohibited. Any publishing of this story in any magazine or fanzine without the author's permission is strictly prohibited.

This story is dedicated to ROBOTECH fans.

Many thanks to Louise (Aikiweezie) for the inspiration for this story.

Criticisms and reviews are welcomed.

REQUIEM FOR A LOVER

"It will be glorious!"

And with that, Azonia and Khyron held hands and laughed an evil laugh as their ship continued on its deadly path towards the SDF-1.

On board the bridge of the crippled SDF-1 now depleted of all power, Admiral Gloval tried to maintain a calm military demeanor and steady his panicked crew even though he himself was sweating bullets.

"Do we have enough energy for one more blast!"

"No sir!" Kim said nervously.

"Are any of the escape pods working?"

"Yes sir! All escape pods are working!" Kim said brightly.

"MOVE IT! MOVE IT! DOUBLE TIME! ABANDON SHIP!"

The bridge crew stumbled their way to the escape pods, closed the door, hit the eject button and braced when the pod's rocket jet motors kicked in blasting the pods skyward. Lisa's pod barely cleared the ship when Khyron's ship collided with the SDF-1. The collision of metal hitting metal caused a gigantic fireball. Electrical systems started to shorten out, fires started everywhere and shards of metal went flying through the air like deadly missiles.

As her escape pod jettisoned out of the doomed space ship and into the air, the deadly combination of the force of the blast, the concussion of the sound and shock waves and shrapnel hit the thinly skinned and padded escape pod Lisa was in and sent it tumbling through the atmosphere like a giant ocean wave hitting a surfer on a surfboard. The pod slammed into the ground with a sickening metallic bang.

Rick seeing the carnage in the air from his VT, saw 6 escape pods clear the SDF-1 with no time to spare. Rick landed Skull 1 in Guardian mode and ran to the nearest pod, hoping that it was Lisa and she was unharmed. An ebony skinned hand reached out and slowly opened the door.

"Claudia! Are you all right!" Rick said as he was helping her out of the pod.

"Yes Rick. I'm ok. A little woozy from the landing but I'm not hurt. Did Admiral Gloval, Lisa and the rest made it out?"

"I don't know Claudia. You're the first one I came upon. Let's find out if everyone else made it."

Rick and Claudia ran to the next closest escape pod and opened the door. It was Admiral Gloval. His cover was half off his head and he was rubbing it.

"Oooohhh! Blast! Can't the engineers design these damned escape pods better!"

Rick and Claudia didn't have to ask Admiral Gloval if he was injured. His cursing and complaining was all the answer they needed.

Gloval began to look around after Rick and Claudia helped him out of his escape pod.

"Did Lisa, Kim, Vanessa and Sammie made out of the ship?"

"I'm ok sir." A mousy voice called out. It was Sammie. Seconds later Vanessa and Kim appeared.

"Then where's Lisa? Where's her escape pod?" Rick asked.

Everyone began looking around. Claudia looked to her right and pointed to what looked liked Lisa's escape pod about 450 meters off in the distance. "There's Lisa's pod!" she yelled. Everyone began running towards the pod. Rick was outrunning everyone else. As he was approaching Lisa's pod, he noticed blood seeping out of a broken door seal and onto the ground and the pod was dotted with shrapnel holes . Rick felt a sickened feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh dear God! No! Lisa!"

Rick flung the door to the escape pod open. What he found made his heart sank. Lisa was bleeding profusely from what seemed to be everywhere . She was barely moving and her white uniform was stained with her blood. Rick lifted Lisa out of the pod, cradled her in his arms and gently laid her on the ground. He then pulled off his right flight glove with his teeth and tried feeling for a pulse in her carotid artery. He felt it but it was faint.

"CORPSMAN! CORPSMAN!" Rick yelled.

"Lisa! Hang in there baby! Hang in there! Don't die. Not when we found each other!" Rick said as he was holding her hand and tears began welling up in his eyes.

Almost immediately, a medic who heard Rick calls for help rushed to the scene and kneeled next to Rick and opened up his medic bag.

"I'm here sir. Let go of her hand Captain Hunter. Let me work on her!"

"No! No! I need to be with her."

Claudia kneed next to Rick and said in a surprisingly calm and soothing voice, "Rick, let go of her hand for a minute so the medic can work on her."

"No Claudia! I can't! Don't make me! I don't want to be away from her side when she dies!"

"She's not going to die, Rick. She's in good hands with the medic. Let go of her hand Rick. Let the medic work on her."

Claudia gently pried Rick's hand away. The medic didn't miss a beat. He ripped Lisa's blood stained uniform jacket open and rolled up the left sleeve of her loose turtle necked tunic shirt and slipped a blood pressure cuff on her forearm and pressed the button. While the blood pressure machine was taking her blood pressure, he checked her pulse and breathing. Seconds later, the machine began beeping. The medic's face looked grim.

"Admiral Gloval. Captain Hayes needs to be in a hospital right now. She has too many injuries for me to deal with. She may have internal injuries that will cause her to bleed internally. We have a problem though, all the roads are littered with debris and the base hospital is swamped with causalities. Macross General Hospital and Granite City reports the same. Monument City Memorial Hospital says they can accept patients but it's filling up fast. We need to evacuate her by helicopter."

"Don't worry corpsman. I'll order it."

Five minutes later, the rescue helicopter landed and a flight nurse and crew chief came out running with a gurney. The medic informed the flight nurse of Lisa's status. The crew chief and flight nurse, a female lieutenant commander lifted Lisa into the gurney and began wheeling her to the helicopter.

"Commander! Let me go with you!"

"No can do sir! You know the rules. Only patients, medical and flight personnel are allowed on board."

"Please commander ! I need to be with her! I'm not trying to pull rank on you! But if I have to, I will!"

She thought it over for several seconds. "Ok sir. For you, I'll make this one exception. But on board the helicopter, I'm the boss. If Captain Hayes' condition worsens, I need for you to move to the side so I can work on her!"

"It's a deal."

Claudia went up to Rick. "Rick. We'll meet you at the hospital when we can. I'll make sure that Max and Miriya knows what happened and where you're at."

"Thanks Claudia. I appreciate that."

Rick was last to board the helicopter and he closed the door. Seconds later, the rescue helicopter was airborne and winging its way to Monument City.

After setting up an IV line and tearing her uniform shirt open and cutting away her bra, the flight nurse placed EKG electrode pads on Lisa's chest, and put an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. After taking a second set of vital signs, the flight nurse radioed Monument City Memorial. She had a worried look on her face.

"Monument City Memorial. This is RDF Rescue Helo One. Do you read me? Over."

"RDF Rescue Helo One. This is Monument City Memorial. We read you. Over."

"Monument City Memorial. We are enroute to your facility with a badly wounded female patient. It's Captain Lisa Hayes. She's 27 years old, 168cm, and 45kg. She has sustained numerous cutting and piercing wounds caused by flying shrapnel that pierced the ejection pod she was in while clearing the SDF-1. She's pale, diaphoretic, semi comatose and is going into shock. BP is 60 systolic, unreadable diastolic, pulse is 40, weak and thready. Breathing is 10, weak and shallow. We have her on O2 and inserted an IV line. Our ETA is 10 minutes."

"Roger, RDF Rescue Helo One. Stabilize her as best you can and keep us informed of her condition."

"Roger, Monument City Memorial. RDF Rescue Helo One out."

Minutes later, the helicopter landed on the rooftop of the hospital and a trauma team was waiting for them. Lisa was transferred to the hospital gurney and was wheeled into the hospital. Rick was right beside Lisa, holding her hand and whispering encouraging words to her. Outside the trauma room, a nurse held out her arm, stopping Rick from going any further.

"I'm sorry, Captain Hunter. You can't go in. Only hospital personnel can enter." The nurse said gently but firmly.

"But nurse." Rick protested. "She needs me by her side. I want to be with her."

"I'm sorry, captain. But I'm afraid that's not possible. Don't worry. She's in the hospital. She's in good hands. Just wait out here."

Rick reluctantly followed the nurse's orders and waited outside the ER. The attending doctor was barking orders in a calm but firm tone. Nurses began taking Lisa's high heeled shoes off, and cutting off her blood stained uniform, undergarments and pantyhose. Midway through the cutting, the bouncing light on the EKG monitor went flat and the beeping noise was replaced with a steady whine.

"She's flat lined!" a nurse yelled.

"Defibrillator! Quick! Full charge!"

A nurse gave the doctor a set of defibrillator paddles to shock Lisa's heart back to beating. The doctor was getting impatient even though it only took seconds for the defibrillator to charge up.

"C'mon! Damn it! Charge up!"

A steady noise began emitting from the defibrillator machine.

"Charged!"

"Clear!"

The doctor pressed the buttons on the top of the paddles. Lisa's body jumped several centimeters off the gurney.

"Nothing!"

"10 cc of Intropin! IV push and shock again! Let's go!"

Rick pressed his face and hands on ER room glass and prayed. Rick wasn't a religious man and far as he knew, neither was Lisa. But at a time like this, he figured what harm it could do. Tears was welling up in his eyes again.

"Please God! Don't let Lisa die! Not after we found each other!"

The doctor shocked Lisa's heart again with the defibrillator. This time he succeeded.

"Check her dog tags to see what blood type she has for a cross match. Get x-ray in here stat. And call radiology. I need an emergency MRI done on Captain Hayes now! I need to know how much internal damage she has."

The attending ER doctor, Dr. Lee went outside to talk to Rick.

"Family?"

"No, I'm her boyfriend."

It took the doctor several seconds to know who Rick is. "Oh, Captain Hunter. I'm sorry if I didn't recognized you right away."

"That's not a problem, doctor. What happened to Lisa?"

"Most likely, Captain Hunter, her heart stopped due to hypovolumia. That's low blood volume. All that flying shrapnel must had either cut a vital organ or blood vessels and caused her to loose a lot of blood. She's getting her blood and bodily fluids replaced right now. I don't want her moved or operated on until we have her stabilized. I've ordered x-rays, so that should give me an idea of what's wrong. But I will not know how serious her injuries are until we have that MRI done. And I don't want to do that until we have her stabilized"

"Can I see her?"

"Let's wait until she's stabilized. Once her blood and bodily fluid volume is back up, she should be conscious by then."

It had taken over an hour for Lisa to become stabilized. By then, Admiral Gloval, Claudia, Max, Miriya and the bridge bunnies arrived at the hospital. They arrived just as Lisa was being wheeled out of the ER to go to radiology to have her MRI done. The orderlies stopped the gurney so everyone can to Lisa for a minute. Lisa was conscious but semi alert. Everyone bent down to whisper some encouraging words to Lisa. Rick took her hand and kissed her forehead. He tried to be strong but his voice betrayed him. "I love you Lisa. You'll be ok. You're in the hospital. Everyone here will take good care of you."

"I love you too, Rick." Lisa said meekly.

Rick did not want to let go of Lisa's hand but had to because the orderlies began wheeling Lisa away.

About another hour went by when Dr. Lee came to talk to Rick and Lisa's friends in a waiting room. Claudia and Max was on either side of Rick, trying to encourage him. The doctor's face was ashen and pale.

"Captain Hunter. Can I speak to you in private? I 'm afraid that the news is not good."

"No doctor." Rick said. "All of us are Lisa's friends. You can tell all of us."

The doctor breathed in deeply and let it out in a deep sigh. "Very well. I'm afraid that the prognosis is not good. We had the MRI done and it showed shrapnel wounds to many of her vital organs. Her spleen, liver, pancreas, kidneys, stomach, digestive system, many major blood vessels. A piece of shrapnel did nicked her heart but thankfully it didn't do major damage. I'm afraid that she is not strong enough now to endure an operation. We can wait until she's strong enough to endure the surgery but even then, I can't promise you it will save her life. I only give her less than a 5 chance of making it through the operation and recovery.

Rick and Admiral Gloval stood stunned. The bridge bunnies began to lean on each other and started to cry. Tears began to well up in Claudia's eyes and Miriya buried her face into Max's shoulder and began to sob.

"Is Lisa conscious?" Rick asked.

"Yes, she's awake and semi alert. I told her of her situation and she said she does not want the surgery done. That she wants to die in peace and we are granting her request. I've been told that she has a living will. When she flat lines, we will not perform any heroic measures on her. We have her on a morphine drip that is connected to her IV to relieve some of her pain."

"Can we see her?" Vanessa asked through her tears.

"Yes. But one or two at a time. We have her in a private room down the hall."

Dr. Lee led the group down the hall and into a small room. A nurse put her finger to her lips as a sign to be quiet. Everyone was unsure who would go in first and stood in awkward silence for several seconds. Admiral Gloval went in first. He stayed in her room for several minutes and walked out. Gloval had tears welling up in his eyes. This was the first time anyone had ever seen Admiral Gloval cry. Max and Miriya then went in. After several minutes, Max and Miriya came out with Miriya crying so hard that she had to lean on Max for support. The bridge bunnies then went in, only spent a short time before they came out crying. Claudia went in and spent what seemed to be almost an hour talking with Lisa. Claudia was crying when she walked out. She went over to Rick and told him to be strong for Lisa. Rick unsure of what to expect hesitated. Claudia assured Rick that Lisa would recognize him and told him to go in. Rick steadied himself and walked slowly in. An EKG machine was quietly and steadily beeping, a morphine drip was attached to an IV in her right arm and an nasal oxygen mask was helping her breathe through her nose. Rick stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do next. Lisa helped by motioning him to come with her hand. Lisa face brightened a little when she saw Rick.

"Come here Rick. Sit next to me on the bed." L:isa said weakly.

"Are you sure Lisa? I don't want to hurt you."

"It ok, Rick. The morphine is helping me with the pain."

Rick walked slowly towards Lisa's bed, pulled the railing to the bed down and sat down besides her on the bed..

"How're you feeling, Lisa?" Rick said, then immediately hit himself on the forehead for asking such a stupid question.

Lisa gently laughed. "I'm doing ok, Rick. There's no harm in asking that question."

Relieved, Rick gently took Lisa's hand and started kissing it. Lisa always had very sexy, smooth skin. That was one of the many things he liked about her. He then looked at her face. It didn't have the bright glow it always had. It was nothing but a mask of pain. Her beautiful emerald green eyes wasn't as bright also. All of its loveliness was gone. He broke downed and cried as he laid his head on Lisa's chest.

"Oh baby. I'm so sorry. I'm such a fool. All those years of chasing Minmei when it was you all along that I wanted."

Lisa took her hand out Rick's palm and put one finger to his lips.

"Shhh. Darling. It's ok. I don't want you to have any regrets."

A searing shot of pain jolted her body and she winced in pain. Rick sensed that something was wrong.

"Is there a problem Lisa?"

"Yes. The morphine is no longer working, Rick."

"Let me call the doctor. See if he can give you something stronger."

"No Rick. I have something to tell you and I want to have a clear mind when I do."

"Ok Lisa. What is it?"

"I don't know how to say this without shocking you so I'll just tell you straight out. Rick, you're a father. A father of twins."

Rick was stunned. He never knew that Lisa was pregnant much less he was the father.

"How…How did you manage to hide it from me? How long had you had the children? When did you have the babies?

"I'll explain. One question at a time. I had the twins a week before Thanksgiving. Their names are Rick and Jennifer Lynn. After my mother. Because I had twins, the doctor ordered me on restricted duty and bed rest for the majority of the pregnancy."

"But how did you managed to hide it from me all these months?"

"When the gynecologist at the base hospital confirmed that I was pregnant, I knew that I had to come up with a plan to keep the news of my pregnancy from you. So I talked to Claudia and Admiral Gloval and they helped me come up with a ruse about something that happened at the factory satellite and Lord Breetai and Exedore needed my help for as long as they needed me. Do remember that scuttle butt going around the base about that last spring?"

"Yes, I remembered that rumor. I thought it was you I'd seen on television taking the shuttle to the factory satellite."

"It wasn't me Rick. We found a young junior enlisted female who's about my height. We made her up to look vaguely like me, we put a long brown wig on her and kept the press at a distance. When she was seen boarding the shuttle, I was moved to a part of the base where it's mostly deserted but it's regularly patrolled by the MPs. There a house was set up for me where I went through the pregnancy in peace. All my meals were delivered to me and the OBGYN doctor visited me instead of me coming to her."

"Who else was in on this little scheme of yours?"

"Not many Rick. Only Claudia, Admiral Gloval, Lord Breetai and Exedore. I did tell Max and Miriya later on. They tried to convince me to tell you of the pregnancy and you being the father. I'm sorry I had to tell you now, Rick."

Rick was upset at the news and the deception.

"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant and I was the father! Why hide it from me? I would had taken responsibility for the children! You know I would do that!"

"That was the reason, Rick! I didn't want you to be with me out of a sense of duty and responsibility because you're the father! I wanted you to be with me because you love me!"

Rick became crestfallen when Lisa told him that. As always, she was right. He began crying again and buried his face in Lisa's chest.

"Oh baby! I'm sorry! I shouldn't had yelled at you."

"It's ok baby. Remember what I said, no regrets. Ok?"

Rick nodded. He then searched through his memory trying to figure out when he and Lisa had sex. This is early January. Lisa had the twins in November before Thanksgiving. A normal pregnancy usually takes nine months. But with twins, many births are premature. He then rememberd seeing Lisa standing in front of Claudia's house in the rain. He also rememberd it was mid March and he drove her to her home so she can get out of her wet uniform and dry off. Yes, it must had been around March. He allowed himself a small devilish grin when he remembered.

"It must had been that time in March on a Friday when I saw you front of Claudia's house. She was not home and it was cold and raining. You were not carrying an umbrella nor were you wearing a raincoat. All you were wearing was your uniform."

Lisa nodded and smiled. "You offered to drive me home so I can get out of my wet uniform, dry off and get warm. It was either that evening, night or the next morning when we made love. Rick, I know this will be difficult for you to handle but I want you to take care of our children after I'm gone. I don't want to give up our children for adoption or to be placed in foster care."

"I'll do my best Lisa to be a good father to our children Lisa. I promise." Rick said through his tears.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the hospital chaplain.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you Captain Hayes, but I'm John Wheatley. Pastor of the First Baptist Church here in Monument City and a former chaplain in the RDF. I'm also the Protestant chaplain here in the hospital. I don't know if you're religious or not, or what church you belong to, but do you mind if I come in, anoint you with oil and say a prayer for you? It will not take long."

"Sure. Come in chaplain. It doesn't matter how we pray or worship. In the end, we all worship the same God."

The chaplain smiled warmly. "That's true."

He then walked in, went to Lisa's bed, took a small vial of oil out of his suit pocket, dabbed a bit of the oil on Lisa's forehead, laid his hand on her shoulder and started praying. Rick awkwardly bowed his head, closed his eyes and folded his hands. But at the same time in his mind, he questioned why would a supposed loving God would let this planet go through all this turmoil and let the one he love, be dying right before his very eyes.

After the chaplain finished his prayer and left, Rick and Lisa spent the next 15 to 30 minutes talking about how their children will look like when they grow up. Lisa promised to be their guardian angel and to look out for them always. She said that does not want to have a big military funeral and she wants to buried on Earth. She did not want to be cremated and to have her ashes in space. She had enough of the cold vacuum of space. Rick promised that he will do everything she asked.

Then her breathing became more shallow, slow and labored, her heartbeat was getting more faint and her voice was becoming more quiet. The pain was getting more than she can bear. Rick and Lisa knew that she didn't had much time left. Rick moved himself above Lisa's head, being mindful of the IV line, EKG electroid leads and the oxygen tube. He gently lifted Lisa and cradled her in his arms and rocked her like a baby.

"Rick my love, do you remember what I told you when I came by your house this morning to say good bye?" she asked softly.

"I do, baby." Rick said gently and quietly through his tears. "You said, 'I love you Rick Hunter. I always have and I always will.'"

Lisa quietly sighed an acknowledgement and nodded. She then smiled and whispered to Rick "I love you Rick Hunter. I always have and I always will." and slowly closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed down and stopped. Her body sagged a little as her spirit broke free of her body. The EKG machine that was quietly beeping went to a one steady tone. A nurse quietly entered the room and turned off the EKG, shunted off the IV line and shut off the O2 machine then left the room.

Rick continued to rock Lisa's body in his arms for several minutes. All of a sudden, he let out a yell and started to cry. All the pain, regrets, missed opportunities and second chances missed fell bitterly from his eyes. After what seemed to be an eternity, he began to take in every inch of Lisa's features and began to stroke Lisa's long brown hair with his free hand. Lisa always had the most sexiest hair he had ever seen. He was glad that she never decided to have it cut.

Claudia quietly walked in and through her own tears, told Rick that they have to leave because the hospital orderlies were outside waiting to take Lisa's body down to the morgue. Rick violently shook his head no. He didn't want to leave. He knew that the next time he would see Lisa, it would be at the base chapel. Not for their wedding but for her funeral. She will be in a metal box, in her dress uniform with her ribbons and medals and with the RDF flag draped over her coffin. And that is one sight he couldn't bear to see. He wanted to remember Lisa alive, beautiful and full of life. Not dead and in a casket. Claudia said she understands how he feels because she was in the same position when Roy died but they need to leave so they can start planning Lisa's funeral. Besides, she said, Lisa will always be alive in their hearts and memories. Rick nodded and slowly let go of Lisa's body and began to walk away from the hospital room. But suddenly he turned around and kissed Lisa on the lips and whispered in between raking and heaving sobs, "I love you, Lisa Hayes. I always have and I always will."

The next several days seemed to be like a blur to Rick. Going to the funeral home and picking out a casket, planning the funeral, securing the base, giving out media credentials, setting up the chapel for the funeral and talking to the chaplain. Even though Lisa didn't wanted a big military funeral, every high muckity-muck in the RDF was there for Lisa's funeral. It seems that every military and civilian media outlet was there at the funeral. TV, radio, newspapers Internet outlets and bloggers were there covering the funeral. Even the famous Internet web journalist, Matt Judge was there. The chapel choir sang beautifully and the soloist Ensign Joy Adams had the voice of an angel. But Rick couldn't hear the singing. The chaplain said many wonderful and comforting words but Rick couldn't hear the words. It didn't made any sense to him. All he knew was that the love of his life was dead and in a metal box. At the memorial park, he didn't even flinched when the firing party fired their three rifle volleys for the 21 gun salute. He stood like a zombie and saluted when the bugler played Taps. He can't even remember what Lieutenant Adams said to him when he presented the flag that was draped over Lisa's coffin to Rick. The day was such a big burden to Rick that Claudia and Max had to be on either side of him escorting him just in case he fell over in grief.

After the funeral, Claudia and Max helped Rick to his house so he can rest. He didn't wanted to be at the post funeral reception. The day was just an emotional drain on him. He just wanted to go home. The voice mail light to his telephone was blinking. Claudia wondered who would call Rick at such a time. She pressed the button. The monotone voice mail voice began. "Captain Hunter, you have two new voice mail messages. First voice mail message."

"Captain Hunter, this is Lieutenant Commander Hiyashi of the JAG office. Sir, I know that this is not a good time to call you considering that today is Captain Hayes' funeral . But I really need to speak with you sir . I am handling Captain Hayes' probate case and in her last will and testament she named you the executor of her estate. I need to see you at your earliest convenience so we can go over Captain Hayes' estate. There should be no problems in settling her estate because the bulk of her estate is going to her children with you having a small stipend for future childcare expenses. You don't need to see me right away but I do need to see you in the very near future. Again, contact me at your earliest convenience. And may I say Captain Hunter, that we here in the JAG are in deep sorrow over Captain Hayes' death. She will always be a great leader and will be missed by all of us."

"Second voice mail message."

"Hi…Rick? It's Minmei. I didn't know when it would be a good time for me to call you, but I heard about Lisa's death…and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened to Lisa. I wanted to be at the funeral to at least be by your side but with the media and the paparazzi following me everywhere, I didn't wanted to turn her funeral into a circus. Could you please call me when you feel like it? I just want to know how're you doing and if there is anything I could do for you. I'm staying at my uncle and aunt's restaurant, so just call the restaurant if you want to talk to me, ok? Well…talk to you later, Rick. Bye."

"End of voice mail messages."

Claudia was furious. "Why that little bitch!" Claudia seethed under her breath. "Who the Hell does she think she is? How dare she call Rick at this time like this! Of all the days to be calling! On the day of LISA'S FUNERAL! Lisa's body isn't even cold in the ground yet and she's trying to weasel her way back into Rick's life. OOO! The nerve of that girl! She makes me so angry! I'm almost tempted to go down to the restaurant and bitch slap that girl!"

"Don't let me stop you from doing it." Max said to Claudia quietly. "I wonder if Rick heard."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to call Minmei anytime soon." Rick said from his bedroom.

From Captain Rick Hunter's personal journal.

April 21, 2014.

It's been over 4 months since Khyron's suicidal attack on the SDF-1 that cost the love of my life her own . The pain of losing her has been mind numbing to me. Many nights it has been hard to sleep without waking up in the middle of the night and crying from either reliving the nightmare or dreaming that Lisa is in my arms only to wake up and realize that she's not here with me. The nightmares and the grief has gotten so bad that I am seeing a therapist to help me deal with the mind numbing pain. Thank the stars that she does not have me on medication. I know I would become too dependent on them.

Admiral Gloval has put me in charge of building the SDF-3 and has promoted me to Admiral. I am taking Lisa's place of trying to find the Invid and try to talk peace to them before the Earth is embroiled in another war from space. I don't think the Earth can take another inter-galactic war. Thankfully the schematics and blueprints for the SDF-2 wasn't destroyed in the attack, so should not take very long for the SDF-3 to be built and to be space worthy.

Claudia, her brother Vince and wife Jean, Admiral Gloval, the bridge bunnies, Max and Miriya has been very good in helping me in raising Rick and Jennifer. RJ has more of his mother features than mine, thank God. Jennifer is beginning to look more like her beautiful mother every passing day. Max is now leader of Skull Squadron and Miriya is his XO. Even though Max and Miriya have their own life and Dana, Max always find time for us to go out for a "guys night out." It's nice of him to do that because that gives me some free time away from the babies. Although it gives more headaches for Miriya because she has three babies to look after, I don't think she minds. I think Claudia about to become an aunt. After years of trying, Jean is pregnant with a boy I think. Vince is strutting around like a rooster these days. The cad.

I can never let myself to be in love with anyone again because I don't think I will ever find someone to love as much as I loved Lisa. I think Minmei was right in that we were good friends and that was it. The love I thought I had for her was just puppy love. It wasn't real. My life and destiny was to be with Lisa. Only I realized too late that was true.

Speaking of Minmei, she dropped by the house yesterday. She wanted to know how I was doing and why I haven't returned her phone calls. At first, I was tempted to tell Minmei to leave before I call the MPs but I thought better of it. Instead I asked her why did she called me on the day of Lisa's funeral. Why couldn't she wait several days before calling? She lowered her head in apparent shame and embarrassment. At first, I didn't know if she was genuinely ashamed or if she was acting. She told me that she heard about Lisa's death from the media and she wanted to pass along her sympathies to me but she couldn't decide on whether or not to call me on that day and she didn't want to come to the funeral because of the media and the paparazzi. After much indecision, she decided to call me that day and she told her uncle that. Her uncle Max tried to talk her out of it but being the stubborn person that she is, she called me anyway.

I told her that she should had listened to her uncle because that wasn't a smart thing to do, to which she agreed with. She said that after she made the phone call she realized it was a stupid thing to do. I also told her that Claudia and Max was in the house when her voice mail message played. Claudia became so mad when she heard the message, that she threatened to go to the restaurant and "bitch slap that girl." And Max wasn't about to stop her from doing it. Minmei was genuinely embarrassed when I told her that. What I didn't tell Minmei is of Claudia's accusation of Minmei "trying to weasel her way" back into my life.

I then told her the reason why I haven't called her is because I've been busy with the building of the SDF-3 which was only half true. I think she sensed that. We spent over an hour in the kitchen talking. She said that she is thinking about getting back to singing and entertaining again. She really didn't felt like singing and entertaining so soon after breaking up with Kyle. She was thinking about contacting Ace Friedman, her former agent and manager about becoming her agent again and was thinking about looking over movie scripts again.

As she was talking, I couldn't help but notice a slight twinge of sadness and regret in her voice. I asked her if she had any regrets. Not wanting to admit that she has, she was quiet for a long time before she admitting she has. She regretted all those years of wanting more for herself than just having a pilot for a boyfriend. She also regretted rejecting my gestures of love as coming from a lovesick puppy. I admitted to her that she was right about me being a lovesick puppy. She continued to talk about herself but she caught herself and apologized. I told her not to apologize because there isn't much to talk about my life. Being a single parent was difficult but I enjoy being a father. I then told her not to have any regrets. Lisa told me that before she died. Minmei smiled when I told her that.

As we got up to leave, she offered her hand and I shook it gently. She offered to help me out in anyway she can. Be it someone to talk to or money. I told her that wasn't necessary because the military was taking care of everything. She said she hoped that I would call her or meet her again and hope we can stay friends but we both know that wasn't true. She has her life and I have mine. I seriously doubt that we will ever be talking or meeting each other in person again. While I am thankful for her thoughts of kindness, I really don't want to restart a relationship with Minmei. I don't think we can even be friends again. Minmei herself on top of Lisa's death made that impossible.

Tomorrow is Lisa's birthday. I'm thinking about taking off work early so I can stop by the flower shop to buy a bundle of fresh flowers to put on Lisa's grave before going to the memorial park. The trees are budding and blossom and the flowers are in bloom. That means the headstone should be placed on her grave very soon. Spring is her favorite time of year. And I thought winter was because when I first met her she had the personality of the middle of January. The passing days and months doesn't make the pain of loosing Lisa any easier. But when I visit her grave, all I know is that body that is in the ground underneath my feet is not Lisa. Somewhere beyond the mortal reaches of this Earth, Lisa, Roy and Pop are looking down at me and my children. Guiding, protecting and looking out for me and my, no, our children.


End file.
